The Technical University of Munich* – When the Government Reviewers Arrive, It’s Theater-Time at German Universities – 10

The reactions to the review procedures were very mixed, in spite of all the preparations. It was said, for example, that the whole process at Konstanz and Freiburg had been a failure. That idea, though, was met with incomprehension at those universities. It was certainly true that it was not easy to assess how things had come off, since after the formal presentation of the university proposals, the review and inspection shifted to several small group discussions. Those involved at Konstanz did admit that the opening presentation had clearly not gone well. The examiners’ questions had not been precisely answered. The discussions that followed, though, were said to have been more successful.

*According to The Times of London, in its Higher Education Supplement [THES], World University Rankings, 2011-2012, the Technical University of Munich, officially recognized by the German government as an “elite university,” is ranked 88 overall among the world’s universities. At its current ranking, the Technical University of Munich is not so very far behind many universities in, for example, East Asia. It is now only seventeen places behind China’s Tsinghua University (ranked 71 in the world), only twenty-six places behind the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (ranked 62 in the world), only thirty-nine places behind Peking University (ranked 49 in the world), only forty-eight places behind the National University of Singapore (ranked 40 in the world), only thirty-five places behind Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology (ranked 53 in the world), and, for another comparison, only eighty-one places behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ranked 7 in the world). http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/wo…)

“While the traditional study-abroad sites for Americans, Britain, Italy, Spain and France, still attract more students from the United States, the report found that China is now the fifth-most-popular destination.” – The New York Times, 17 November 2008